feeling really old today

Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:30 pm

Involved in engine training this week. I can't climb on the harvesters like I used to, not as sure-footed as I was. Diagnostics, configuration, re-commissioning via laptop interface. Manuals on Ipad. Terms like Tier IV, Tier IVi, Tier IVF, SCR, DEF, ADM, PLD, cam sensors, crank sensors, ect.My Dad had the expression "enough to make your head swim". I think this applies.. I love my Cub... I thought I was doing really well operating an Iphone..

Re: feeling really old today

Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:42 pm

What's an iphone?

Bob

Re: feeling really old today

Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:57 pm

Yup. Wife's Chev Torrent. Lift hood - all you see is a large plastic cover. Good thing the Chev dealer is just down the road.

Heck. Took Torrent in for service and oil change about 2 weeks ago. Other day the check oil light came on. Engine full of oil. Dealership had Torrent over weekend - 3 days. No charge for parking in their lot. Technician forgot to adjust computer to indicate last oil change.

Or son's Dodge Dakota. Ran crappy. In the dealership for service on the problem about a zillion time. I (me) finally found a sensor that wasn't listed in the manuals. Replace sensor, retimed engine. Problem solved.

Makes one appreciate the ease of maintenance on simple machines. Simple - like me.

Re: feeling really old today

Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:40 pm

Was a pretty good week after all. Got a 93.3% on the final test, so I was happy, though a little sore. A cancelled flight thru Chicago makes me spend another night in Omaha. (oh well, better here than the windy city, any day)

Re: feeling really old today

Quite likely, that adjustment can be done easily, by you, without any special equipment. I can do it on my 4Runner. You just need someone who has access to GM technician web sites to look up the procedure for you. I'm sure the dealer won't give it to you, unless you know someone.

Re: feeling really old today

Quite likely, that adjustment can be done easily, by you, without any special equipment. I can do it on my 4Runner. You just need someone who has access to GM technician web sites to look up the procedure for you. I'm sure the dealer won't give it to you, unless you know someone.

Read the owner's manual.

Re: feeling really old today

Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:27 pm

Jim Becker wrote:Read the owner's manual.

Heck, I need a co-pilot just to operate all of the controls.

On the oil light reset. Chev/GM dealer is a short mile down the road. Wife bought the vehicle, it's hers and the dealership's problem.

Wife refused to drive my 1978 Cadillac and didn't like driving the Dodge 1500 pickup. Drove Cadillac to John Puckett's. Exhaust system came loose - muffler probably slide out of exhaust pipe. Told wife when I got home. She got real excited saying now I could get her another vehicle. Discussion over. Wife had been on my case for years to get her a vehicle. Next day wife and I went to nearest vehicle dealership - GM. I sat in show room chair and wife picked out her vehicle. I never said a word - - - - but she could have purchased a brand new vehicle for about $3000- more than I paid for her car.

OH. I just kept my mouth shut and wrote out the check.

Edit: And the car gets driven about 3000 or 4000 miles a year. Every once in a while I have my son drive it to work for a week just to put some miles on it.

I went through it in the automotive industry years ago. I never forget just before I retired I programmed a lost ignition key in front of a customer. A Laptop had to be used connected via WI-Fi through the factory for programming and he thought I was surfing the web. Things are really getting very complicated and yes the young people coming out of school are trained for it…thanks to a teacher.Eugene wrote:

Took Torrent in for service and oil change about 2 weeks ago. Other day the check oil light came on

Re: feeling really old today

Mid 1960's went to the General Motors training center in Omaha, Nebraska. Took various automotive courses during the summers.

Things were much simpler then. No one had or could afford a computer.

Re: feeling really old today

Sun Mar 03, 2013 10:54 am

Eugene wrote:

Things were much simpler then. No one had or could afford a computer.

Ya I know Eugene, I remember those days and in my opinion I wish I could go back. But in the most part the electronic age (Computer’s) has made things in general better for our infrastructure, health and ect. For example the only thing I can make examples of at this time is my knowledge automobiles and other things I have been associated with. My brother a car collector (gear head) in his collections has a rare 1967 Chevrolet Camaro 427 cu.in. 425- hp. Also he owns a 2013 Ford Mustang 5.0-liter (302 cu in.) 650-hp for his show – off car. How did the 302 cu in. get 650-hp…by today’s technology (computers) and electronics….

I was honored to be given a demonstration by a person who works for the U.S. Government that uses the G.I.S. system for a tool to keep our country safe. The system is operated by computers and it’s unimaginable what it can do.

This past year I helped a friend that had heart surgery that owns a 2200 acre ranch in the western part of the U.S. To make his land produce and profitable an irrigation system that is computer controlled was installed eight years ago. The owner told me the computer controlled irrigation system paid him back in two years which made him more competitive with the industry. The new Combines for harvest that are being bought for his operation; inside the cabin looks like a Boeing 737 cockpit…..all controls are computer controlled and the owner said this is needed to be competitive and profitable…..no wonder he had to have heart surgery….

If anybody wonders if I got to drive the Camaro… yes I did, my brother bought it new and I was the second one to drive it. The acceleration is like taking off in a Boeing 737. I drive the Ford Mustang sometimes and never did try its potential because it scares me. My brother did once when I was a passenger and I soiled my undergarments’. ….. I’ll stick with my Cub and four cylinder Malibu at 36 MPG they fit me very well.

Somebody got a real quick tip to clear the Check Engine light on a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan with a 3.0 litre in it? we have done everything yet the Check Engine light always comes back on. Hard to tell when something is wrong when you have to depend on the idiot lights to indicate a problem.

Re: feeling really old today

Sun Mar 03, 2013 5:01 pm

Rudi wrote:[Somebody got a real quick tip to clear the Check Engine light on a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan with a 3.0 litre in it? we have done everything yet the Check Engine light always comes back on. Hard to tell when something is wrong when you have to depend on the idiot lights to indicate a problem.

Electricial tape. My mother's Caravan did the same thing and we wound up just ignoring it. Years and two owners later my nephew is still driving it with about 200,00 miles. Vechile is a piece of junk but the engine is going strong. Engine was a 3.3. Years ago when driving courrier for a medical testing lab we used to run Dodges with the 3 liter with the engine lights on until it went in for an oil change. Maintenance super said it wouldn't hurt them. Vern

Re: feeling really old today

Sun Mar 03, 2013 7:51 pm

Vern:

This one has 397,000 kms on it. It is in pretty awesome shape, in fact the mill is kinda awesome. We have done a lot of maintenance over the years to keep it in as good shape as possible because we simply could not afford to replace it. The body is in pretty good shape and the undercart is still almost pristine. It is almost 14 years old. Amazing My youngest now uses the van to help with Amanda and Abby, so I am always checking the oil. Yeah, it does burn a bit.... course if I had as many miles on me as the van does, I would burn oil too.

Oh... wati a sec ................................................. I do

I was kinda hoping to find a quick fix, it is a niggling little problem. Same as the Air Bag light. For some reason that came on a few months ago and now it won't go off at all.

Re: feeling really old today

Sun Mar 03, 2013 10:00 pm

Rudi wrote:............ Same as the Air Bag light. For some reason that came on a few months ago and now it won't go off at all.

Your air bag may not go off in an accident either with that light on! Might want to get that one seen about.

Here's my w.a.g. for the day. Does your horn work? If not press the button and hold it in while turning the steering wheel back and forth a half revolution or so. Does the horn sound intermittently? Congratulations you need a clock spring. That will fix the air bag light.

Re: feeling really old today

Sun Mar 03, 2013 10:48 pm

Jeff:

Why thank you kind sir.... I will have to tell the guys about that the next time the car goes in.......